1978 Chevrolet Corvette Pace Car Black & Silver Coupe L82 350 V8 36 Miles

Description for Chevrolet Corvette 1978

1978 Chevrolet Corvette Pace Car
- Only 36 Original Miles!
- Family Owned Since New
- L82 V8
- 4 Speed Manual
- Gymkhana Suspension
- Original Window Sticker still in the window!
(Please note: If you happen to be viewing this 1978 Chevrolet Corvette Pace Car Edition on a site other than, it's possible that you've only seen some of our many photographs of this vehicle due to website limitations. To be sure you access all the more than 100 photographs including a short walk-around-and-startup video, please go to our main website: GarageKeptMotors.)
"...the car that kicked off the Corvette's long association with the Indy 500." Robb Report, May 2018
According to the Corvette authority,, the Pace Car Edition was not just a matter of paint and pinstripes: "The Corvette Indy Pace Car also featured a special front and rear spoiler, both of which were designed to add a more dramatic appearance to the car, though neither offered much in the way of additional downforce. The front spoiler was similar to the one installed on the 1978 Pontiac Trans-Am. It wrapped under and around the front of the car before blending into the wheel wells. Conversely, the rear spoiler curved down at its outboard ends to meet the body-sides of the Corvette." When the prospective owner checked the "RPO Z78" option code for the Pace Car Edition, the car would also arrive with"... new glass T-tops, alloy wheels, power windows, a rear window defogger, air conditioning, sports mirrors, a tilt/telescopic steering wheel, a heavy-duty battery, an AM/FM stereo equipped with either an eight-track tape player or a CB radio, and power door locks." The car's interior was also special: "The interior... was directly influenced by Bill Mitchell and featured either full silver leather or leather/gray cloth upholstery and gray carpeting. For the... Pace Car, Chevrolet introduced a new, thin-shell seat design that featured more lumbar support. Although these seats were originally slated for the 1979 (Corvette), the development program was accelerated so that (they) could be introduced in the 1978 Pace Car package."
Offered here is unquestionably an important and highly collectible 1978 Pace Car Edition Corvette. Short of finding a new one somehow left behind at the St. Louis factory 42 years ago, this 1978 Indianapolis 500 Pace Car Edition is one of, if not the, lowest-mileage example in existence. Owned by the same family since it was delivered new by Thomet Chevrolet-Buick in Lowell, Michigan, the car's odometer now shows a total of just 36 miles. Its factory-applied Munroney sticker was never removed; it's still applied to the side window.
This particular Pace Car Edition has the added distinction of having been ordered with a driver's orientation in its optional equipment: It was one of a small number equipped with both the P87 Gymkhana (Autocross) suspension and the M21 Close-Ratio 4-speed transmission. (The lighter 350 V8 on the car would also have been the autocrosser's choice.) These options are especially prized by present-day collectors.
As to the car's condition, the word "pristine" is an accurate description. The silver leather seats still wear their factory-applied clear-plastic protection. Exterior black and silver paint-including the red tape-striping separating the two exterior colors-is virtually perfect. The red pin-striped alloy wheels are unblemished. The glass T-tops are perfectly clear with factory-original tint. Correct special-edition emblems are in place and undamaged. Effectively, this is a new automobile.
Particularly with a car this special, prospective purchasers will want to view all the more than 100 high-definition photographs at the GarageKeptMotors site to see it from every angle, including from underneath. There's also a sampling of the V8's exhaust note in the accompanying short walk-around-and-startup video. With all of that, a car of this caliber and rarity (only 6,200-one for each Chevrolet dealership-were made), can only be fully appreciated with an up-close, personal inspection. To that end, we encourage visits to our Grand Rapids, Michigan showroom. We ask only that you contact us for an appointment in advance so that we can devote our full attention to you when you're with us. Please also feel free to phone or email us with any questions you may have.
CorvSport sub-titled their review as follows: "The 1978 Indy Pace Car Was One of the Most Desired Corvettes of Its Time." Knowing that Corvette fans are never slow to snap up the truly exceptional examples, we don't expect to have the pleasure of seeing this beautiful sports car on our showroom floor for long.